DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
It is known, that vehicles which are transported on transporters have to be secured reliably to a generally flat, horizontal surface of the transporter. It is of the essence for the vehicle service industry to use inexpensive yet secure transporters and associated equipment for securing vehicles to transporters that do not cause damage to the vehicle being transported.
A variety of hold down systems using different materials for immobilizing vehicles during shipment have been developed. The best prior art known to Applicant include U.S. Pat. Nos.: 5,330,148; 4,611,961; 5,584,622; 4,786,223; 2,023,972; 4,659,266; 1,770,798; 5,586,849; 5,011,347; 4,960,356; 5,106,245; and 1,934,841.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,023,972 describes the assembly which is formed by a loop formed by a flexible member, such as chain, from which extend a pair of attachment members. The distal ends of the attachment members are coupled to turn buckles for tensioning the hold down harness. The loop embraces a mounted tire of the vehicle, and upon being tensioned by the attachment members anchors the vehicle to the platform. However, the loop is not tightened around the vehicle's tire and the attachment members are secured within the plane of the vehicle's tires.
As opposed to using chains for anchoring vehicles to supporting platforms, it is preferred to manufacture hold down devices from straps in order to maintain acquisition costs reasonable and to avoid excessive investment in equipment employed in the vehicle service industry. Materials for making such straps are strong and durable, while maintaining flexibility and longevity. These materials are also inexpensively fabricated and stitched together. Also, an important advantage of strap construction over chains is that straps slide easily over one another, whereas chains frequently bind and catch on one another.
Wheel hold down devices made from straps are described in many patents. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,148 is directed to a wheel tie down device for securing the wheel of a trailered vehicle to the trailer. The harness is defined by a lasso member having a D-ring on one end through which the free end passes to form a lasso handle. A tether member attaches to the lasso loop by means of a slip loop, a distal end of the tether member is provided with a hook for engagement with the eye of the trailer bed. The free end of the lasso handle is engaged by the winch for applying tightening forces to the harness. Additionally, a cross member spans the lasso loop to attach to the opposing sides thereof. Although constituting a certain improvement, the system described in this '148 Patent, does not prevent tires from undesirable displacement in direction perpendicular to the plane of the tire, since the lasso handle and the tether member are positioned in the plane of the tire. Being in the plane of the tire, makes the assembly more likely to cause damage to the vehicle. Additionally, it is essential that the cross member be positioned substantially centrally of the lasso loop, since any displacement of the cross member from its central position, may cause the lasso loop to slip off the tire, thereby failing to anchor the tire in place. Disadvantageously this hold down device needs three straps: the cross member, the lasso member, and the tether member.
A wheel harness for securing a motor vehicle to a support structure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,961. The harness is formed by a first hook strap, a second hook strap, a connecting section and a lashing strap. The first and second straps are looped about the wheel, while the lashing strap is provided with a loop for connecting to an anchor ring on the platform and tightened utilizing a buckle, which may be aided with a ratchet tool. This system is somewhat complicated and each wheel of a vehicle transported must be secured to the platform. That securement is by a single lashing strap, which certainly does not provide a sufficient anchoring action for securing the wheel of the vehicle to the platform.
The same problem is associated with the tie down device for a vehicle described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,622. In this system the tie down device is formed by a first strap having a loop formed on a first end thereof. At a certain distance D1 from this loop, a second strap is secured to extend substantially orthogonally from the first strap. The second strap is provided with a second loop at the distal end thereof. In use, the free end of the first strap is wrapped about the tire to pass through the loop on the first end, while the second strap passes transversely over the tire, the first strap also passing through the second loop. The free end of the first strap is then tensioned utilizing a ratchet mechanism.
As discussed above, the prior art systems for tie down of vehicles to a transporter platform suffer from a number of deficiencies, such as employing excessive structures, requiring a complex arrangement of straps around the vehicle's tires, and are prone to causing damage to the vehicle's tires, body, undercarriage, brake lines, and suspension components. It would, therefore, be highly desirable to have a device for securing vehicles to transporters that conveniently straps one or more wheels of the vehicle to the flat bed of a transporter and is designed to ensure that no damage to the vehicle could take place.